Acute Cerebellar Infarction Caused by Superior Cerebellar Artery Dissection

Background: Cerebral artery dissection comprises a large portion of stroke etiology among young stroke patients. Dissection of the main arterial trunk, such as carotid or vertebral artery, is not rare. However, dissection of peripheral arteries such as the superior cerebellar artery (SCA) is extremely rare. Case report: A 28 year old man presented with vertigo and gait disturbance. He had posterior neck pain after vomiting and subsequently felt a spinning sensation on the day prior to admission. Neurologic examination on admission showed left beating gaze evoked nystagmus in the left gaze. Left arm ataxia and truncal ataxia were also observed. Diffusion-weighted imaging showed diffusion restriction of the left SCA territory. Cerebral angiography showed fusiform dilatation of the left SCA, suggestive of arterial dissection. Conclusion: We describe a rare case of cerebellar infarction caused by SCA dissection after severe vomiting in a healthy young man. J Neurocrit Care 2014;7(2):116-118